Forgive me if I'm wrong as I was never able to read past the house of Tom Bombadil in the actual book but, in the film at least, wasn't it Frodo who solved the riddle? Gandalf merely answered Frodo's question of what the word for friend was which triggered the door but it was Frodo who worked out the meaning of the riddle. 69.129.202.222 16:06, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

You are correct. Frodo solved the riddle in both the book and the film.82.65.98.192 16:11, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

No, in the book it was Gandalf.

'I was wrong after all,' said Gandalf, 'and Gimli too. Merry, of all people, was on the right track. The opening word was inscribed on the archway all the time! ...'

On the idea of "who would win", one discussion board seems to thinkit would be the Balrog, hands down.

When Gandalf fights the Balrog, they do at one point plumment into an underground lake. The Balrog's fire gets quenched, but he becomes "a thing of slime, stronger than a strangling snake." The Balrog subsequently bursts into flame again when Gandalf chases it back outside, so perhaps its incendiary quotient is a measure of its current health? 174.239.193.32 23:35, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

Is it worth noting that "mellon" is Sindarin, since "Elvish" could refer to other languages as well, such as Quenya. (The word for friend in Quenya is meldo.) Tharkon (talk) 19:45, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

I think it is worth noting that the idea of forcing water into areas to annoy evil supernatural forces is a bit of an XKCD theme. It is also referenced in #969 and #1330. 173.245.50.105 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Balrogs are by no means "lowly servants" of Morgoth- they were among his most powerful servants, second only to dragons, and were originally maiar (as gandalf is, and Sauron was). 162.158.88.8 15:17, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

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